Example B · Basis · 5 pages Fictional business, website by SGS · Why does this site work? · also Example A · Example C · Example D · ← all examples · Nederlands

Cases

Every case on one A3

This is how lean teams report: everything on one sheet. From reason to embedding, with the figures before and after. That is how you get it from us too.

A3 · 01

Metalworking: lead time halved

Sheet metal work, 45 employees

1Background

Customers were calling more and more often to ask where their order was. Planning ran on Excel and there were half-finished orders all over the floor.

2Current situation

Tidy workstation in a metalworking company with a shadow board for tools, yellow floor marking and soft daylight

An order took 10 working days on average. The real work took just over 6 hours. At powder coating the work sat waiting for 3 days.

3Goal

Lead time under 6 days, without extra people or overtime.

4Causes

  • Orders were sawn in large batches, so everything waited for the last sheet
  • Coating only went out once a week
  • Nobody could see which order came first

5Measures

  1. Sawing in small batches per order
  2. Two fixed collection times a week at the coater
  3. One planning board with the order for everyone
  4. Fixed place for every semi-finished part, with yellow floor marking

6Result

before10 days
after5 days
10 → 5working days lead time
−60%work in progress on the floor
98%delivered on time

7Embedding

A fifteen-minute daily start at the planning board every morning at 07:30. The team leader tracks the lead time every week.

A3 · 02

Online shop: 30% fewer returns

Online shop for home accessories, 18 employees

1Background

Twelve in every hundred parcels came back. Often broken or with the wrong product inside.

2Current situation

Well-organised packing station of an online shop with made-to-measure boxes, a scanner and a roll of cardboard within reach

Packers searched for boxes and filling material for every order. Fragile products went into boxes that were too big. There was no check before sealing.

3Goal

A third fewer returns from mistakes and breakage, within three months.

4Causes

  • No fixed box size per product
  • Pick list and screen showed a different item number
  • Busy Mondays, so rushing

5Measures

  1. Box size and filling fixed per product
  2. Scanning before the box is closed
  3. Packing station rearranged: everything within arm's reach
  4. Monday peak spread over two shifts

6Result

before12% returns
after8.4% returns
12% → 8,4%returns
−70%broken in transit
22 secfaster per parcel

7Embedding

Returns are tallied by cause every week on the whiteboard next to the packing table. New products get a box size first.

A3 · 03

Municipality: faster permits

Permits team, medium-sized municipality

1Background

Residents and contractors waited eight weeks on average for a simple environmental permit. The team worked hard, but the pile did not shrink.

2Current situation

Municipal team at a process chart with cards and arrows on the wall, files in numbered trays

A file went back and forth up to seven times. The design review advice sat in a pigeonhole for fourteen days. Real work per file: just over five hours.

3Goal

Simple applications handled within four weeks.

4Causes

  • Incomplete applications only came back after weeks
  • Advice was collected weekly and only then sent out
  • Everyone took the easiest files first

5Measures

  1. A round of calls within two days for incomplete applications
  2. Daily consultation with design review instead of weekly
  3. Files in order of arrival on a visible board
  4. Standard decision for the five most common applications

6Result

before8 weeks
after3 weeks
8 → 3weeks lead time
−45%calls about the status
0extra FTE

7Embedding

The team holds a short improvement round every Tuesday. The lead time is on display in the department.

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